Selectively incorporating feedback from a remote audience

ABSTRACT

A method, apparatus, and stored instructions are provided for selectively incorporating feedback from a remote audience into live content. The feedback is incorporated into one part of a segment at the same time that another part of the segment is played to an audience. A feedback manager may receive feedback from audience members on a first part of the segment while a second, later part of the segment is being played to the audience by a client machine and while a third, even later part of the segment is being generated by a content manager. The feedback manager may then compare feedback data to stored criteria to determine whether or not to change the playing content.

BENEFIT CLAIM

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 120 as aContinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/299,114, filed Mar. 11,2019, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/025,540,now U.S. Pat. No. 10,231,024, filed Sep. 12, 2013, the entire contentsof which are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forthherein. The applicant(s) hereby rescind any disclaimer of claim scope inthe parent application(s) or the prosecution history thereof and advisethe USPTO that the claims in this application may be broader than anyclaim in the parent application(s).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to selectively incorporating feedback froma remote audience.

BACKGROUND

Gameshows, sports and eSports, reality shows, live broadcasts, and livestreaming media are popular sources of entertainment for audiences.These sources of entertainment rely on a segment of video and/or audiocontent that is generated by capturing aspects of a physical and/orvirtual environment. Parts of the segment or edited forms of the segmentare transmitted from a content provider to a client machine, such as atelevision, desktop computer, laptop, smart phone, tablet, or radio.Members of an audience consume the transmitted parts of the segment bywatching and/or listening to the parts on the client machine.

For live broadcasts or streams, an event that occurs in a physical orvirtual environment is typically delayed at least a few seconds betweenthe actual occurrence in the environment and the time that contentdepicting the occurrence is presented by the client machine. Commondelays between event occurrence and event presentation are due togeneration time, processing time, and transmission time. Some contentproviders also add intentional delays to live broadcasts or streams.Intentional delays may be added arbitrarily or, for example, to allowample time for filtering profanity, violence, and adult content, or forother forms of editing. In light of intentional and unintentionaldelays, a “live” segment of content, as the term is used herein, refersto any contiguous segment of content for which at least part of thesegment is being generated concurrently as the same or other part(s) ofthe segment are being played to an audience.

Reality shows such as American Idol™, The Voice™, Dancing with theStars™, and America's Got Talent™ have popular live television segmentsthat are well-known to American audiences. These shows occasionallyprompt the audience to take action. For example, in a first segment, ashow may present alternative participants or competitors, such assingers, dancers, or other performers, on which the audience can voteafter the segment. The show may then air a later segment, such as asegment on the next day or next week. In the later segment, the show mayannounce, based on the votes that were cast between the first segmentand the later segment, which participants or competitors were eliminatedand which participants or competitors have advanced to the next round.These shows receive a large number of votes from the audience eventhough audience members are forced to wait until a later segment to seethe results of their votes.

Audiences may also watch eSports, which are publicized or sharedcompetitions between video game participants. Starcraft™ competitionsare perhaps the most popular and well-developed eSports of the lastdecade. In Starcraft II™, observers may join a game instance to watchand listen to a competition between two game participants, as the gameinstance occurs. Although the observers themselves do not participate inthe gameplay, the observers may chat with each other about the events ofthe game. As a result, the game instance may be more entertaining forthe observers.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could bepursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previouslyconceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it shouldnot be assumed that any of the approaches described in this sectionqualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in thissection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example server-side system for managing feedbackfrom an audience and changing content that is played to the audience.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example server-side system for managing feedbackfrom an audience and example client-side systems for changing contentthat is played to the audience.

FIG. 3 illustrates example client-side systems for managing feedbackfrom an audience and a server-side system for changing content that isplayed to the audience.

FIG. 4 illustrates example client-side systems for managing feedbackfrom an audience and changing content that is played to the audience.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process for managing feedback from anaudience and changing content that is played to the audience.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrates example interfaces for viewing content,providing feedback, and viewing changed content.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example computer system for performing variousmachine-implemented steps described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however,that the present invention may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shownin block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring thepresent invention.

As used herein, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and “particular”are used as naming conventions to distinguish different entities, suchas different audience members, different participants, or differentitems of feedback, from each other, so that these different entities maybe referenced after they have been introduced. The use of these termsdoes not imply an ordering or any other characteristic of the entities.

General Overview

Systems, methods, and stored instructions are provided herein forselectively incorporating feedback from a remote audience into livecontent. In other words, the systems, methods, and stored instructionsincorporate feedback into one part of a segment at the same time that(i.e., concurrently as) another part of the same segment is played to anaudience. For example, in a 60 minute show, a feedback manager mayreceive feedback from remote audience member(s) on the first 20 minutesof the show while (a) the second 20 minutes of the show are being playedto the audience by client machines, and (b) the third 20 minutes of theshow are still being generated by a content manager. In the example, thefirst part, the second part, and the third part are each 20 minutes.However, the actual time difference between the segment part for whichfeedback is being received and the segment part that is currently beinggenerated may be minutes, seconds, or even milliseconds.

In one embodiment, one or more specially configured computing devicescomprise a feedback manager for selectively incorporating feedback froma remote audience. While content of a segment is concurrently generatedand played to an audience, the feedback manager receives feedback dataand determines whether or not to cause a change in the content of thatsame segment. The feedback data represents “items of feedback” on aplayed portion(s) of the segment. For example, the items of feedback mayinclude the pushing of a “thumbs up” button by a first audience memberand the capture of a particular sound (e.g. a laugh or clap) from asecond audience member. The different audience members may be atlocations that are remote relative to each other and relative to thelocation at which the segment is being generated.

The feedback manager uses stored criteria to make the determination ofwhether or not to cause the change. Whether the stored criteria issatisfied is based, at least part, on the feedback data. For example,the stored criteria may account for both the button push of the firstaudience member and the captured sound of the second audience member. Ifthe feedback manager determines to make the change, the feedback managermay cause the change to be performed on the currently-being-generatedportion of the segment. The change may be made by a content manager thatis responsible for making on-the-fly changes to the content.

On-The-Fly Content Revision Example

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process for managing feedback from anaudience and changing content that is played to the audience. In step500, one or more computing devices receive feedback data from remoteusers regarding currently playing content. In step 502, the one or morecomputing devices analyze feedback data based on stored criteria todetermine whether to cause a change in content. If the feedback datasatisfies stored criteria, as determined in step 504, the one or morecomputing devices trigger a change in content in step 506. The changemay include a change to an environment in which the content is capturedin step 506A and/or a change in captured content in step 506B. If thefeedback data does not satisfy the stored criteria, as determined instep 504, the one or more computing devices do not trigger a change incontent, as noted in step 508.

Presenting Content

A content server is special-purpose hardware, software, or a combinationthereof that generates and/or distributes content for presentation onvarious client machines. The content may include an audio track, a videotrack, or both. For example, live television content or streamingdigital audiovisual content may include both an audio track and a videotrack. The content server sends the content towards the client machinesfor consumption by audience members that use the client machines. Thecontent may be transmitted on a private or public television or radionetwork, such as HBO™, NBC™, or NPR™, or over a private or publiccomputer network, such as a local area network, a virtual privatenetwork, or the Internet. Audience members may consume the content byviewing or listening to the content on various client machines. Theclient machines may or may not be remote from each other (i.e., indifferent buildings, corporate offices, communities, cities, states, oreven countries).

A client-side or server-side content manager makes changes to thecontent by making post-capture changes, pre-capture changes, or both.Examples of post-capture changes include changing the audio track or thevideo track. Examples of pre-capture changes include changing thereal-world sound that is being captured to generate the audio track,changing the real-world visual objects that are being captured togenerate the video track.

In the context of post-capture changes, the content manager may insertor mix an audio object with other audio content on the audio trackand/or insert or mix a video object with other video content on thevideo track. In one example, the content manager adds sound effects,audio clips representing cheers, audio clips representing jeers, oraudio clips representing helpful tips to the audio track. In anotherexample, the content manager adds video effects, adjusts lighting,inserts captions, reveals objects, or highlights objects on the videotrack. In yet another example, the content manager slows down content toemphasize a portion of the content, or speeds up content to de-emphasizea portion of the content and/or to catch up to the latest availablecontent.

In one example of pre-capture changes, participant(s), who are separatefrom the audience, change their behavior and/or appearance based on thefeedback, thereby changing the content that is captured. Theparticipants may be participating in a physical or virtual event, suchas a gameshow, a video game, an improvisational performance, a scriptedperformance, or another competitive or non-competitive event.

In a specific example, the content shows a real-time strategy videogame, such as Starcraft II™, that is taking place between two or morecompetitors or otherwise involving two or more participants who areseparate from the audience. In such a context, pre-capture modificationsmay include, for example, changes that effect the environment orcontrols of the game. For example, in response to an audience booingbecause one player is fleeing the battlefield, the speed of thatplayer's vehicle may be reduced, thereby allowing other players to catchup to the fleeing player.

Collecting Feedback

The client machine includes a content player that plays the content to aviewer or listener. The client machine includes a feedback interface.The feedback interface may be a soft integrated interface that isincorporated with or overlaid on the playing content. The feedbackinterface may alternatively be a hard interface that involves physicalbuttons. Soft or hard feedback interfaces do not need to be integratedwith the playing content. The feedback interface may be provided by oneclient machine, and the content may be playing on a different clientmachine. For example, a tablet may include a soft interface forproviding feedback content that is associated with a television show,and the television show may be playing on a separate television.

Soft feedback interfaces may be customized to or integrated with theplaying content. Alternatively, the soft feedback interfaces may begeneric with respect to content, and the feedback items may beindividually tagged, marked, or directed to the content. For example,Twitter™, Facebook™, or Google Plus™ users may provide feedback items inthe form of posts that tag a particular segment of content or aparticular collection of segments. In a specific example, a Twitter™user, Joe, posts: “great performance by @performerA on #AGT.” A feedbackmanager may retrieve the post from Twitter and, based on the tag thatidentifies a show, #AGT, and the information that identifies aparticipant, @performerA, may count the post as a positive vote forperformerA on America's Got Talent. The feedback manager may also lookat the time of the post to determine whether the post was added during asegment of the show or even during a particular part of the segment. Thefeedback manager may also collect other feedback such as public posts,semi-private posts, or private posts to a user account accessible to thefeedback manager, likes, +1's, or thumbs up, dislikes, −1's, or thumbsdown, re-tweets, or shares from social networks, feedback from emailmessages or text messages to an account accessible to the feedbackmanager, or feedback from phone calls. The feedback manager may look formessages or posts that are directed to a particular user account, aretagged with certain hashtags or keywords, or otherwise include certainkeywords or reference certain entities or objects, which are known to beassociated with certain keywords.

Feedback Item Attributes

Feedback items may differ both in how they are obtained (e.g. the pushof a physical button, the push of a “soft” button, the capture of asound, etc.) and in the meaning they convey (e.g. pleasure, displeasure,shock, etc.) In addition, feedback items may differ based on who theyare from (the location, gender, age, clan of the audience member), andthe portion of the content for which they are provided. Such informationabout the context or content of a feedback item is referred to herein asfeedback item attributes.

Feedback items received for a single segment may have many differentkinds of attributes. For example, a feedback item may have one or moreof the following attributes:

-   -   sentiment (e.g. “positive” or “negative”)    -   target (e.g. “participant #3”)    -   desired action (e.g. “receive power boost”)    -   time    -   duration    -   intensity    -   manner of indication (e.g. pushed a button, sent a tweet, etc.)    -   provider gender    -   provider age    -   provider clan

These are merely a few of the virtually unlimited types of attributesthat a feedback item may possess. Each attribute may be associated withone or multiple possible values. For example, a sentiment attribute mayhave the value “1” or “−1,” or “positive” or “negative,” indicatingwhether the corresponding feedback is positive or negative. Similarly,the target attribute may have the value “1,” “2,” or “3,” indicatingwhether the feedback corresponds to a first, second, or thirdparticipant in the content. The value may be explicitly indicated in thefeedback itself, or the value may be gleaned from the feedback. Forexample, the feedback manager may analyze a feedback item to check forkeywords or phrases associated with positive and/or negative sentiment,and the feedback manager may assign a value to the feedback item basedon results of the analysis. The feedback value may be associated with aset of items even if some of those items better reflect the value thanothers. For example, very positive feedback may be grouped with positivefeedback and assigned a value of “1,” or very positive feedback may beseparated from positive feedback and assigned a value of “2.”

The effect that the feedback has on the content of the segment may bebased on the values associated with any of the feedback item attributes.For example, in response to receiving 1000 feedback items, it may bedetermined that 90% of those feedback items have a “positive” sentiment.Therefore, it may be determined that cheering should be added to thesoundtrack. In addition, it may be determined that 80% of the positivesentiment came from female audience members. Consequently, it may bedetermined that the cheering should use female voices. However, if theintensity of one negative sentiment feedback item is extremely high, asingle loud “boo” may be added in conjunction with the cheering.

Audience members may provide similar or different types of feedback,such as feedback that reflects similar or different feedback attributevalues, for part of a segment of content or for a participant or objectfeatured in the part of the segment. In one example, a first audiencemember may like a performer, and a second audience member may dislikethe performer. Accordingly, the first audience member may providepositive feedback about the performer, and the second audience membermay provide negative feedback about the performer.

Positive feedback may be identified based on keywords, commands, orpatterns associated with positive sentiment, and negative feedback maybe identified based on keywords, commands, or patterns associated withnegative sentiment. The feedback may or may not include an explicitindication, such as a flag or marker, as to whether the feedback ispositive or negative. The feedback manager may estimate whether thefeedback item is positive or negative based on associated keywords. Forexample, “yes,” “yeah,” “good,” “awesome,” and “yay” are associated withpositive sentiment, and “no,” “nah,” “bad,” “horrible,” and “boo” areassociated with negative sentiment.

In the example, the positive and negative feedback may be considered asdifferent types of feedback even if both types of feedback are capturedin the same way. For example, the positive and negative feedback mayhave both been provided in a customized chat interface that is overlaidon video content, or the positive and negative feedback may have bothbeen provided as public posts on a social network. The positive andnegative feedback may have also been provided using different modes. Forexample, the positive feedback may have been provided as a voicerecording that, when interpreted using speech-to-text software or toneanalysis software, says “awesome!” or has a positive or increasing tone.The negative feedback may have been provided using a different mode thana recorded voice, such as the text chat command, “//boo.”

Rather than simply indicate emotion, feedback may indicate desire that aparticular change in content occur. For example, a user may providefeedback that indicates a trap door should be opened, feedback thatindicates a helpful tip should be displayed to participants, or feedbackthat indicates that the background color should be changed from red toblue as viewed by the entire audience. These different types of feedbackmay not always be characterized as having positive or negativesentiment, but these types are still considered different because theyattempt to cause or are otherwise associated with different changes incontent.

The same audience member may provide different types of feedback atdifferent times or with respect to same or different participants orobjects. For example, the audience member may express positive sentimentfor a first performance of a participant and negative sentiment for asecond performance of the same participant. As another example, theaudience member may provide feedback that indicates a secret door shouldbe opened at a first time but closed at a second time. In yet anotherexample, the audience member may provide feedback that indicatespositive sentiment for a first performer and negative sentiment for asecond, different performer.

The feedback manager may receive multiple feedback items of multipledifferent types. The different feedback items may be grouped based onthe type of feedback item. For example, items reflecting positivesentiment about a performer may be placed in one set, and itemsreflecting a negative sentiment about the performer may be placed inanother set. In another example, items reflecting a request to play arandom animal noise may be placed in one set, and items reflecting arequest to report the current score may be placed in another set. Ratherthan or in addition to retaining all of the feedback items, statisticsmay be tracked about each of the different sets of items. In oneexample, a first set includes several feedback items, and a second setincludes zero, one, or only a few feedback items.

In one embodiment, the feedback manager receives items of a same typeand may or may not receive any items of any other types. The items ofthe same type may be placed into a single set, and statistics may betracked for the single set even if there are no other sets to compare tothe single set. Whether or not the feedback manager is capable ofdistinguishing between different types of feedback, the feedback managermay, due to audience participation, receive only the single set of itemsfor a given portion of the content segment.

Different types of feedback may refer to different participants orobjects featured in the content. The different participants or objectsmay be identified using keywords, text commands, hash tags, sounds,colors, or any other information provided in or with the feedback toidentify the participant or object. For example, one audience member mayidentify a red team of competitors in a first feedback item, and anotheraudience member may identify a blue team of competitors in a secondfeedback item. The different audience members could also refer todifferent objects in a physical or virtual environment. Helpful objectsmay include, but are not limited to, health packs, helpful tips, orwarnings, and harmful objects may include, but are not limited to, trapdoors, virtual bombs, or misleading tips. The helpful or harmful objectscould be selectively provided to a particular team or competitor.

In one embodiment, the type of feedback is identified based oninformation about the audience member who provided the feedback. Forexample, one audience member may be associated with a first group, clan,or competitor, and a second audience member may be associated with asecond group, clan, or competitor. In another example, differentaudience members may be from different physical or virtual locations orregions, and the different feedback types may be defined by thedifferent locations or regions. In a specific example, feedback fromaudience members in California may be aggregated as one type offeedback, and feedback from audience members in Texas may be aggregatedas another type of feedback.

The different types of feedback may also be defined based on a physicalor virtual button that was pressed to generate the feedback. Forexample, an audience member may press a red button to generate a firsttype of feedback or a blue button to generate a second type of feedback.

The different types of feedback may also be defined based on which ofseveral presented options were selected by an audience member. Forexample, audience members may be prompted to select whether or not aperformer should be kicked off of a show. Options selecting to kick theperformer off of the show are a first type of feedback, and optionsselecting to keep the performer on the show are a second type offeedback. The option may also be built into an interface such that theaudience members may select the option using specialized commands orother input without being prompted for such input.

In one embodiment, the audience feedback is triggered by differentmotions as detected by movement sensors or cameras used by the audiencemembers. One example movement sensor and camera system is the Microsoft™Kinect™, which captures user movement in the form of a video and in theform of a moving virtual skeleton. The moving virtual skeleton isconstructed by capturing and processing ambient light input and infraredinput. In one example, one type of feedback is triggered by someonegetting up and leaving the room, and another type of feedback istriggered by someone jumping up and down.

In one embodiment, the feedback is provided as picture, video, or audiocontent that is generated by the audience member. For example, theaudience member may shout “yay” or “boo”, or may do a fist pumping pose.The content may be captured by a recorder, camera, camcorder, movementcapture device, or other audio and/or video capture device at theaudience member's location. For example, the audience member may speakinto his/her microphone that is connected to his/her computer. Invarious examples, audio or video feedback may be transmitted via a voiceor video conferencing connection between the audience member and acontent manager, or over a network connection between the audiencemember and the content manager.

Analyzing Feedback

Feedback may be analyzed on an item-by-item basis or in the aggregatefor different types of items or for feedback attributes having differentvalues. A feedback manager receives feedback items and stores feedbackdata that represents the feedback items. The feedback data may includeactual feedback items or may include a summary of feedback items thathave been received. For example, the feedback data may list how manyfeedback items of different types were received during a given window oftime. The feedback data may maintain counts of feedback items forseveral different windows of time and several different types offeedback items. In another example, the feedback data may include actualtimes, rather than windows of time, in which different feedback itemswere received. The actual times or the windows of time may be analyzedto determine increasing or decreasing rates of feedback, optionallyspecific to different types of feedback or to different values offeedback attributes.

In one embodiment, the feedback manager compares the feedback data tostored criteria to determine whether or not to cause a change in playingcontent. The stored criteria may be based on how many feedback items ofdifferent types or in different sets have been provided. For example,the feedback manager may analyze feedback data for a particular type offeedback to determine whether N items have been received for a givenperiod of time. In another example, the feedback manager may analyze thefeedback data for a particular option, which, for example, may comprisea tuple of (positive feedback, negative feedback) or a member-selectedfeedback value, to determine whether N positive items, N negative items,or N net positive items (after subtracting negative items) or netnegative items have been received for that option during a given periodof time. Options, as used herein, refer to feedback items that wereselected from two or more alternate types of feedback, such aspositive/negative, participant A/participant B, object A/object B, oraction A/action B.

Upon determining that a threshold number of items of a given type, for agiven option, or for a given attribute-value pair, have been received,the feedback manager may cause an action or change associated with thetype of feedback item, option, or attribute-value pair. The feedbackmanager may also reset the counter for the type of feedback item,option, or attribute-value pair that triggered the action or change. Thefeedback manager may avoid or even prevent an action or changeassociated with a type of feedback item or option that does not satisfythe threshold.

In one embodiment, rules for assigning weights to different types orattribute values of feedback items may be included in the storedcriteria. For example, feedback items may be weighed based on howrecently the feedback items were provided. More recent feedback itemsmay get higher weights than less recent feedback items. The weights maybe part of the stored criteria that contributes to the determination ofwhether or not to cause an action or change associated with a type offeedback item, option, or attribute value.

In another example, feedback items are weighed based on social mediacharacteristics of the feedback providers, such as how many friends,followers, and/or friends of friends are connected to a feedbackprovider in a social network. Feedback items may be weighed based oncharacteristics of the feedback item itself, such as how many likes,+1's, or thumbs up, dislikes, −1's, or thumbs down, re-tweets, or shareswere provided for the feedback item. Feedback items that are popular orreceive more support may be more likely to trigger an action associatedwith the type of feedback item or option.

In yet another example, feedback items are weighed based on othercharacteristics of the feedback providers or the feedback items, such asa provider's position in a virtual audience or a number of points thatwere used to make the feedback item more prominent. Users may spendpoints on a feedback interface to boost a feedback item and make theitem more prominent or more likely to trigger an action associated withthe type of feedback item or option. Audience members may also purchaseor reserve different virtual seats, virtual sections, or other virtualpositions. Better virtual positions may make feedback items from thoseaudience members more heavily weighted or more prominent. The prominenceof a feedback item may be part of the stored criteria that contributesto the determination of whether or not to cause an action associatedwith a type of feedback item or option. In one example, audience memberswith the best virtual seats may even be audible or visible toparticipants that are featured in the playing content, even thoughaudience members in other seats may be selectively filtered orcompletely blocked from the participants and/or from the rest of theaudience.

In one embodiment, an audience member's position in a virtual audiencemay increase or decrease the prominence of feedback for an audience in asame virtual section as the audience member. For example, audiencemembers in a same section may hear or see each other's feedback moreoften than audience members hear or see feedback provided by theaudience outside of that section. In another example, audience membersmay hear or see all feedback from other audience members in the samesection. A group of audience members may witness an event while beingable to readily communicate with others in the group, even though theymay not witness all of the feedback from audience members outside of thegroup. Feedback from audience members outside of the group may befiltered according to the stored criteria. Content changes based onfeedback may be localized to different groups or sections of an audiencesuch that the different sections make up a sub-audience that consumesthe changed content.

In one embodiment, feedback from friends of an audience member may havea greater prominence or weight than feedback from audience members whoare not friends of the audience member. For example, feedback fromfriends may be presented more frequently or more loudly than feedbackfrom non-friends (i.e., strangers). In a particular example, friends maybe cheering while others are booing, and the audience member may hearthe cheers louder than the boos.

In another example, audience members rooting for one team may hearfeedback from other members rooting for that same team more prominentlythan feedback from other members rooting for other teams. For example,audience members rooting for the blue team may hear each other morefrequently than they hear audience members rooting for the red team.

In various examples, the stored criteria may involve a complex formulaof weights and/or counts of feedback items over a given time period. Thefeedback items may be compared relatively, as a percentage of totalcounts of feedback items, to minimum or maximum absolute thresholds, orusing a combination of relative and/or absolute measures. For example,the stored criteria may be satisfied if, in the last 20 seconds, 90% ormore of feedback received is positive, and feedback is received from atleast 30% of the audience. In another example, the stored criteria maybe satisfied if, in the last minute, more than 300 audience membersindicated positive feedback. If the stored criteria is satisfied ineither of these examples, the feedback manager may trigger the additionof cheer content to main content that is playing to the audience. Thefeedback manager may also check if the intensity of any particularaudience member's feedback exceeds a threshold, and, if so, the feedbackcontent added to the main content may be based on a recording of theparticular audience member. For example, the added content may be arecording of the particular audience member cheering.

Making Changes

Feedback items are associated with content changes or actions that causecontent changes. Different types, options, or attribute values offeedback items may be associated with different types of changes orcandidate actions that cause such changes. Conversely, same types,options, or attribute values of feedback items may be associated withsame types of changes or candidate actions that cause such changes. Aparticular change may be caused when the feedback manager determines,based on feedback data, that an associated type of feedback shouldtrigger the particular change.

In one example, a type, option, or value of feedback associated withlighting, camera, or sound adjustments or effects may, if such feedbackresults in the feedback manager determining that feedback data satisfiesstored criteria, result in such adjustments or effects. For example, thefeedback manager may, upon determining that the stored criteria issatisfied by the feedback data, instruct a content manager to change asong that a performer is singing to, or cause a slow motion effectfollowed by a fast forward catchup effect during a game.

In another example, a type, option, or value of feedback may beassociated with a physical action, such as operating a dunk booth ortrap door, lighting an “X” sign above a performer, activating a speakerto play a sound provided by an audience member or a default sound, orcausing display of a message to a producer, actor, or participant thatis involved in generating the content. Any such actions may be caused asa result of such feedback satisfying the stored criteria. Physicalactions may, in turn, cause changes to playing content. For example,causing a physical change in a physical environment may cause a changeto content that is captured from the physical environment. In a specificexample, causing a gameshow contestant to fall through a trap door maybe visible to viewers of the gameshow.

In yet another example, a type, option, or value of feedback isassociated with a virtual action, such as providing reinforcement unitsto a particular team featured in the content, strengthening units of theparticular team, or weakening the units of the particular team. Thefeedback may also be associated with a change in gameplay or a changethat affects gameplay for participant(s), game rules, rewards toparticipant(s), or progress of game participant(s). Any such actions maybe caused as a result of such feedback satisfying the stored criteria.Virtual actions may, in turn, cause changes to playing content. Forexample, causing a virtual change in a virtual environment may cause achange to content that is captured from the virtual environment. In aspecific example, providing reinforcements to a team in a video game maybe visible to viewers of the video game.

Feedback types, options, or values may also be associated with actionsthat affect participants featured in the content and/or a physical orvirtual environment featured in the content. Alternatively, the feedbacktypes, options, or values may be associated with changes that affectonly that content that is consumed by audience members and not anyparticipants featured in the content and not any environment in whichthe participants exist. For example, the feedback may trigger a lightingadjustment that is seen in the content that is played to the audiencemembers but that does not affect lighting in a physical environment fromwhich such content is captured. These types of changes may be made whileprocessing the content after the content has been captured.

In one embodiment, audience member(s) witness main content and providefeedback on the main content. The feedback manager may determine, basedon stored criteria, to change the main content to incorporate contentfrom the feedback. As a result, the content manager addsmember-generated feedback content to the main content. In anotherexample, the content manager may add, to the main content, defaultcontent that is stored in association with a particular type, option, orvalue of feedback that was provided by an audience member. In yetanother example, the content manager may add, to the main content, anitem of default content that is selected from among a plurality of itemsof default content that are stored in association with a particularfeedback attribute, such as the particular type, option, or value offeedback, that is associated with the feedback provided by the audiencemember.

The feedback manager may trigger a change that is associated with afirst type, option, or value of feedback but not with a second type,option, or value of feedback. Such a trigger may occur as a result ofthe feedback manager determining that the stored criteria is satisfiedfor the first type, option or value of feedback but not for the secondtype, option, or value of feedback. For example, audience members mayhave provided more feedback items of the first type, option, or value offeedback than of the second type, option, or value of feedback.Candidate change(s) associated with type(s), option(s), or value(s) offeedback for which the stored criteria is not satisfied may be avoidedor even prevented.

The feedback manager receives different items of feedback, which may ormay not be of different types, options, or values and may or may not befrom different audience members. The feedback manager triggers a changein content for a first item of feedback but not for a second item of thedifferent items of feedback. In one example, the first item isassociated with a first time, and the second item is associated with asecond time. The second time is not in proximity to the first time, andthe change in content occurs in proximity to the first time but not inproximity to the second time. In other words, changes are caused near orshortly after items that trigger the changes, and these changes mightnot occur near other items that did not trigger the changes.

In one embodiment, audience members select virtual seats to witness anevent. The virtual seats may be in different sections and may be nearerto or further from a stage or performance region. Based on feedbackreceived during the event, the content manager may cause changesspecific to different sections and/or based on how far the audiencemember is from the stage or performance region. For example, audiencemembers in a same clan may be in a same virtual group, and theseaudience members may witness all or most of the feedback from otheraudience members in the same group. These audience members may witnesssome, none, or only a filtered portion of feedback from audience membersoutside of the group. In another example, audience members with the bestseats may be audible to more audience members or even to participantsfeatured in the content. For example, a performer may hear audiofeedback in the form of a “yay” or “boo” from an audience member with avirtual seat in a prime location, but may not hear any feedback from anaudience member with a worse virtual seat.

In another example, audience members may have a joystick, and theircollective input on the joystick may move an object in an animatedvideo. The object may move according to rules that are satisfied basedon thresholds such that unpopular feedback does not affect the movementof the object. Alternatively, the object may move in an analog mannersuch that all feedback affects the movement of the object.

In yet another example, a character in a live television show may reachdecision points at which audience members are prompted for feedback. Theaudience's collective response may be used to select from among a numberof discrete options. The character may then make his decision, therebycausing the story to branch one way or another, based on a selecteddiscrete option as chosen by the audience.

Example Server-Side System

FIG. 1 illustrates an example server-side system for managing feedbackfrom an audience and changing content that is played to the audience. Asshown, audience members 150A and 150B receive a segment of content Cfrom content manager 110 via Internet 140. The segment may have beencaptured by capture device 122 in environment 120. For example, thecaptured segment may feature participant(s) 126 in environment 120.Audience members 150A and 150B may then provide input to respectiveclients 130A and 130B, and such input triggers feedback data F1 and F2to be sent, via Internet 140, to feedback processor 102 of feedbackmanager 100.

Feedback manager 100 processes the feedback and retains informationabout the feedback in stored feedback data 104. Feedback analyzer 106accesses stored feedback data 104 according to stored criteria 108 inorder to determine whether or not to send change request(s) to contentmanager 110. In response to determining that at least a subset of thefeedback data 104 satisfies stored criteria 108, feedback manager 100sends a change request to content manager 110.

Content manager 110 may cause changes to content segments before,during, or after the content segments are captured from environment 120.To cause changes before or during the capture of content segments, acontroller 112 of content manager 110 sends a control message to agent124 for environment 120. Agent 124 may cause changes to capture device122 or to participant(s) 126 or other object(s) in environment 120.Capture device 122 then captures changed content segment C′, which isforwarded to content manager 110 and may be then forwarded to clients130A and 130B via Internet 140.

Content manager 110 may alternatively or additionally cause changes tocontent segments after the content segments are captured fromenvironment 120 or otherwise generated. Content manager 110 receivescontent segment C or even changed content segment C′, and a contentprocessor 114 of content manager 110 processes the content segment togenerate changed content segment C″. Note that changed content segmentC″ may have been changed by content processor 114 alone, or may havebeen changed by both content processor 114 and agent 124. The changedcontent segment C″ is sent to clients 130A and 130B via Internet 140.The change content segment C′ or C″ may be witnessed by audience members150A and 150B.

Example Client-Side System

FIG. 4 illustrates example client-side systems for managing feedbackfrom an audience and changing content that is played to the audience. Asshown, audience members 450A and 450B receive a segment of content Cfrom content server 411 via Internet 440. Audience members 450A and 450Bmay then provide input to respective clients 430A and 430B, and suchinput triggers feedback data F1 and F2 to be sent, at least partiallyvia Internet 440, to feedback managers 432A and/or 432B (not shown inthe figure). In response to determining that at least a subset of thefeedback data satisfies stored criteria, feedback manager 432A and/or432B sends a change request, at least partially via Internet 440, tocontent manager 431A and/or content manager 431B (not shown in thefigure) on clients 430A and 430B.

Content manager 431A and/or 431B (not shown in the figure) may causechanges to content segments before, during, or after the contentsegments are captured from environment 420. To cause changes before orduring the capture of content segments, content manager 431A sends acontrol message, via Internet 440, to an agent for environment 420. Thechanged content is captured as C′.

To cause changes after content segments are captured from environment420, content manager 431A and/or 431B (not shown in the figure) receivescontent segment C or even changed content segment C′, and contentmanager 431A and/or 431B (not shown in the figure) processes the contentsegment to generate changed content segment C″. The change contentsegment C′ or C″ may be witnessed by audience members 450A and 450B.

Example Mixed Server-Side and Client-Side System

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate example mixed server-side and client-sidesystems.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example server-side system for managing feedbackfrom an audience and example client-side systems for changing contentthat is played to the audience. As shown, audience members 250A and 250Bmay provide input to respective clients 230A and 230B, and such inputtriggers feedback data F1 and F2 to be sent, via Internet 240, tofeedback manager 200. In response to determining that at least a subsetof the feedback data 204 satisfies stored criteria 208, feedback manager200 sends a change request to content manager 231A and/or contentmanager 231B (not shown in the figure) on clients 230A and 230B.

To cause changes before or during the capture of content segments,content manager 231A sends a control message, via Internet 240, to anagent for environment 220. The changed content is captured as C′. Tocause changes after content segments are captured from environment 220,content manager 231A and/or 231B (not shown in the figure) receivescontent segment C or even changed content segment C′, and contentmanager 231A and/or 231B (not shown in the figure) processes the contentsegment to generate changed content segment C″. The change contentsegment C′ or C″ may be witnessed by audience members 250A and 250B.

FIG. 3 illustrates example client-side systems for managing feedbackfrom an audience and a server-side system for changing content that isplayed to the audience. As shown, audience members 350A and 350B mayprovide input to respective clients 330A and 330B, and such inputtriggers feedback data F1 and F2 to be sent, at least partially viaInternet 340, to feedback managers 332A and/or 332B (not shown in thefigure). In response to determining that at least a subset of thefeedback data satisfies stored criteria, feedback manager 332A and/or332B sends a change request, via Internet 340, to content manager 310.

To cause changes before or during the capture of content segments,content manager 310 sends a control message to an agent for environment320. The changed content is captured as C′, which is forwarded tocontent manager 310 and may be then forwarded to clients 330A and 330Bvia Internet 340. To cause changes after capture of content segments,content manager 310 receives content segment C or even changed contentsegment C′, and content manager 310 processes the content segment togenerate changed content segment C″. The changed content segment C″ issent to clients 330A and 330B via Internet 340. The change contentsegment C′ or C″ may be witnessed by audience members 350A and 350B.

Video Game Example

FIG. 6 illustrates an example interface for viewing video game content,providing feedback, and viewing changed video game content. As shown,two participants are competing in a video game, Starcraft II™, that isdisplayed, via display 600, in video content region 606. Video contentregion 606 is viewed by audience member 630, who is not one of theparticipants. In the example, video content 612 shows units ofparticipant A 608 (Marauders, as shown) and units of participant B 610(Stalkers, as shown). Audience member 630 provides feedback via inputdevice 626 to computer system 620, which is connected to display 600.The feedback appears in a feedback region 604 on an interface 602 ofdisplay 600.

As shown, three audience members (mike, suzy, and annie) providednegative feedback (“boo,” “no!,” and “bah”), and two audience members(joe and jeff) provided positive feedback (“yay” and “yeah!”). Afeedback manager may determine that the negative feedback satisfies aminimum threshold of three items, and the positive feedback does notsatisfy the minimum threshold of three items. As a result, the feedbackmanager may cause the negative feedback to be incorporated into thecontent but not the positive feedback. As shown, the negative feedbackis incorporated into audio content 624, as played from speaker 622 inthe form of a “boo.” In the example, the audio content is played aftersounds that were generated by units of participant B (“fall back to theshadows”) and before sounds that were generated by units of participantA (“say goodnight!”). The played content may be audible to audiencemember 630, who could be joe, mike, suzy, jeff, annie, or some otheraudience member.

Tv Show Example

FIG. 7 illustrates an example interface for viewing live televisioncontent, providing feedback, and viewing changed television content. Asshown, content 712 is presented on display 702 and played from speaker722 of television 700. Audience member 730 may consume content whileusing a tablet 720, which is separate from television 700. The tablet720 may be connected to the Internet, and may include a social feedbackinterface 728, such as a Twitter™, Facebook™, or Google Plus™ interface.In the example, the interface shows two posts, one from an audiencemember named mike and another from an audience member named joe. Thepost from mike provides negative feedback regarding participant B, andthe post from joe provides negative feedback regarding participant A. Asshown, mike's post has been liked or +1'd or shared 1999 times, andjoe's post has been liked only 1600 times.

A feedback manager may receive the feedback items and the updatedinformation about the feedback items, such as how many times the itemshave been liked. In the example, the feedback manager may be waiting totrigger a change in content 712 until a negative post has been liked2000 times. If audience member 730 likes mike's post, the feedbackmanager may then request that trap door 716 be opened, thereby droppingparticipant 714B from the television show.

On-The-Fly Effects

Using the techniques described herein, feedback from remote audiencemembers may cause changes that are visible and/or audible to all remoteaudience members as those audience members are consuming the content.Thus, remote audience members effectively become participantsthemselves, in that they collectively control certain aspects of whatthey are viewing. However, the audience members may be different fromthe actual participants in that their individual feedback is notguaranteed to cause any changes in the content. Further, audiencemembers do not have to wait for the next episode in order to see theeffect of their feedback. In embodiments that employ currently availablehigh-speed transmission mechanisms, the changes caused by the feedbackmay be experienced in near-real-time.

Hardware Overview

Audio and video content may be captured and edited using any combinationof audio editing and/or video editing hardware and/or software. Forexample, hardware filters and/or zoom adjustments may be applied before,during, or after the capture of audio or video content on a recorder,camera, or camcorder. As another example, captured video content may beprocessed by one or more audio and/or video editing software tools insequence or in parallel. In yet another example, a software capture tooloperates on top of an engine that manages a virtual environment. Forexample, the software capture tool may capture participants who arecompeting in the virtual environment as part of a video game.

In one embodiment, changes to content may be made by a combination ofmanual and automated steps. For example, a human director or human actormay, based on an automatic recommendation from a feedback manager, makeadjustments to an environment that is being captured, and softwareand/or hardware tools may then capture the adjusted content. In anotherexample, a human participant in a video game may, based on automatichints from a feedback manager, make adjustments to his/her gameplay,which is then captured by a software tool that operates on top of a gameengine that manages the gameplay.

According to one embodiment, the techniques described herein areimplemented by one or more special-purpose computing devices. Thespecial-purpose computing devices may be hard-wired to perform thetechniques, or may include digital electronic devices such as one ormore application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs) that are persistently programmed toperform the techniques, or may include one or more general purposehardware processors programmed to perform the techniques pursuant toprogram instructions in firmware, memory, other storage, or acombination. Such special-purpose computing devices may also combinecustom hard-wired logic, ASICs, or FPGAs with custom programming toaccomplish the techniques. The special-purpose computing devices may bedesktop computer systems, portable computer systems, handheld devices,networking devices or any other device that incorporates hard-wiredand/or program logic to implement the techniques.

For example, FIG. 8 is a block diagram that illustrates a computersystem 800 upon which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented.Computer system 800 includes a bus 802 or other communication mechanismfor communicating information, and a hardware processor 804 coupled withbus 802 for processing information. Hardware processor 804 may be, forexample, a general purpose microprocessor.

Computer system 800 also includes a main memory 806, such as a randomaccess memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to bus 802for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor804. Main memory 806 also may be used for storing temporary variables orother intermediate information during execution of instructions to beexecuted by processor 804. Such instructions, when stored innon-transitory storage media accessible to processor 804, rendercomputer system 800 into a special-purpose machine that is customized toperform the operations specified in the instructions.

Computer system 800 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 808 orother static storage device coupled to bus 802 for storing staticinformation and instructions for processor 804. A storage device 810,such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or solid-state drive is providedand coupled to bus 802 for storing information and instructions.

Computer system 800 may be coupled via bus 802 to a display 812, such asa cathode ray tube (CRT), for displaying information to a computer user.An input device 814, including alphanumeric and other keys, is coupledto bus 802 for communicating information and command selections toprocessor 804. Another type of user input device is cursor control 816,such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicatingdirection information and command selections to processor 804 and forcontrolling cursor movement on display 812. This input device typicallyhas two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (e.g., x) and asecond axis (e.g., y), that allows the device to specify positions in aplane.

Computer system 800 may implement the techniques described herein usingcustomized hard-wired logic, one or more ASICs or FPGAs, firmware and/orprogram logic which in combination with the computer system causes orprograms computer system 800 to be a special-purpose machine. Accordingto one embodiment, the techniques herein are performed by computersystem 800 in response to processor 804 executing one or more sequencesof one or more instructions contained in main memory 806. Suchinstructions may be read into main memory 806 from another storagemedium, such as storage device 810. Execution of the sequences ofinstructions contained in main memory 806 causes processor 804 toperform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments,hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination withsoftware instructions.

The term “storage media” as used herein refers to any non-transitorymedia that store data and/or instructions that cause a machine tooperate in a specific fashion. Such storage media may comprisenon-volatile media and/or volatile media. Non-volatile media includes,for example, optical disks, magnetic disks, or solid-state drives, suchas storage device 810. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such asmain memory 806. Common forms of storage media include, for example, afloppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, solid-state drive, magnetictape, or any other magnetic data storage medium, a CD-ROM, any otheroptical data storage medium, any physical medium with patterns of holes,a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, NVRAM, any other memory chip orcartridge.

Storage media is distinct from but may be used in conjunction withtransmission media. Transmission media participates in transferringinformation between storage media. For example, transmission mediaincludes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including thewires that comprise bus 802. Transmission media can also take the formof acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio-waveand infra-red data communications.

Various forms of media may be involved in carrying one or more sequencesof one or more instructions to processor 804 for execution. For example,the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk orsolid-state drive of a remote computer. The remote computer can load theinstructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over atelephone line using a modem. A modem local to computer system 800 canreceive the data on the telephone line and use an infra-red transmitterto convert the data to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detector canreceive the data carried in the infra-red signal and appropriatecircuitry can place the data on bus 802. Bus 802 carries the data tomain memory 806, from which processor 804 retrieves and executes theinstructions. The instructions received by main memory 806 mayoptionally be stored on storage device 810 either before or afterexecution by processor 804.

Computer system 800 also includes a communication interface 818 coupledto bus 802. Communication interface 818 provides a two-way datacommunication coupling to a network link 820 that is connected to alocal network 822. For example, communication interface 818 may be anintegrated services digital network (ISDN) card, cable modem, satellitemodem, or a modem to provide a data communication connection to acorresponding type of telephone line. As another example, communicationinterface 818 may be a local area network (LAN) card to provide a datacommunication connection to a compatible LAN. Wireless links may also beimplemented. In any such implementation, communication interface 818sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals thatcarry digital data streams representing various types of information.

Network link 820 typically provides data communication through one ormore networks to other data devices. For example, network link 820 mayprovide a connection through local network 822 to a host computer 824 orto data equipment operated by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) 826.ISP 826 in turn provides data communication services through the worldwide packet data communication network now commonly referred to as the“Internet” 828. Local network 822 and Internet 828 both use electrical,electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams. Thesignals through the various networks and the signals on network link 820and through communication interface 818, which carry the digital data toand from computer system 800, are example forms of transmission media.

Computer system 800 can send messages and receive data, includingprogram code, through the network(s), network link 820 and communicationinterface 818. In the Internet example, a server 830 might transmit arequested code for an application program through Internet 828, ISP 826,local network 822 and communication interface 818.

The received code may be executed by processor 804 as it is received,and/or stored in storage device 810, or other non-volatile storage forlater execution.

In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention have beendescribed with reference to numerous specific details that may vary fromimplementation to implementation. The specification and drawings are,accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictivesense. The sole and exclusive indicator of the scope of the invention,and what is intended by the applicants to be the scope of the invention,is the literal and equivalent scope of the set of claims that issue fromthis application, in the specific form in which such claims issue,including any subsequent correction.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: concurrently generating aset of live audience feeds, wherein each live audience feed in the setof live audience feeds includes media content involving a set ofparticipant users; transmitting the set of live audience feeds to aplurality of client devices associated with a plurality of audiencemembers other than the set of participant users; while transmitting theset of live audience feeds: receiving, from the plurality of theaudience members, feedback data that represents a plurality of items offeedback on one or more already-transmitted portions of the mediacontent; classifying each item of feedback, of the plurality of items offeedback, with a particular feedback type of a plurality of feedbacktypes; wherein each feedback type, of the plurality of feedback types,is associated with one or more changes that affect contents of one ormore live audience feeds in the set of live audience feeds; based on theplurality of items of feedback being classified with the particularfeedback type, determining that the plurality of items of feedbacksatisfies stored triggering criteria for triggering an audience feedchange; responsive to determining that the plurality of items offeedback satisfies the stored triggering criteria, causing at least onechange, of the one or more changes that correspond to the particularfeedback type, to be made to one or more live audience feeds in the setof live audience feeds; wherein the method is performed by one or morecomputing devices.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein: each live audiencefeed in the one or more live audience feeds includes an audio track; theat least one change that corresponds to the particular feedback typecomprises an audio-based change; and causing the at least one change tobe made to the one or more live audience feeds comprises making theaudio-based change to the audio track of each live audience feed of theone or more live audience feeds.
 3. The method of claim 2 whereincausing the at least one change that corresponds to the particularfeedback type to be made to the one or more live audience feedscomprises causing audio content to be inserted into the audio track ofeach live audience feed of the one or more live audience feeds.
 4. Themethod of claim 2 wherein causing the at least one change thatcorresponds to the particular feedback type to be made to the one ormore live audience feeds comprises modifying one or more portions of theaudio track of each live audience feed of the one or more live audiencefeeds.
 5. The method of claim 2 wherein: the audio track, of each liveaudience teed of the one or more live audience feeds, includes audiocontent captured from the media content after said determining that theplurality of items of feedback satisfies the stored triggering criteria;and making the audio-based change to the audio track of each liveaudience feed of the one or more live audience feeds comprises causing achange to the audio content captured from the media content after saiddetermining that the plurality of items of feedback satisfies the storedtriggering criteria.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein: each liveaudience feed in the one or more live audience feeds includes a videotrack; the at least one change that corresponds to the particularfeedback type comprises a video-based change; and causing the at leastone change to be made to the one or more live audience feeds comprisesmaking the video-based change to the video track of each live audiencefeed of the one or more live audience feeds.
 7. The method of claim 6wherein causing the at least one change that corresponds to theparticular feedback type to be made to the one or more live audiencefeeds comprises causing video content to be inserted into the videotrack of each live audience feed of the one or more live audience feeds.8. The method of claim 6 wherein causing the at least one change thatcorresponds to the particular feedback type to be made to the one ormore live audience feeds comprises modifying one or more portions of thevideo track of each live audience feed of the one or more live audiencefeeds.
 9. The method of claim 6 wherein: the video track, of each liveaudience feed of the one or more live audience feeds, includes visualcontent captured from the media content after said determining that theplurality of items of feedback satisfies the stored triggering criteria;and, wherein making the video-based change to the video track of eachlive audience feed of the one or more live audience feeds comprisescausing a change to the visual content captured from the media contentafter said determining that the plurality of items of feedback satisfiesthe stored triggering criteria.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein: themedia content comprises a video game; the users of the set ofparticipant users are participants in the video game; and causing the atleast one change that corresponds to the particular feedback type to bemade to the one or more live audience feeds comprises causing a changethat affects gameplay of the video game.
 11. A system comprising: one ormore processors; non-transitory computer-readable media storinginstructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause:concurrently generating a set of live audience feeds, wherein each liveaudience feed in the set of live audience feeds includes media contentinvolving a set of participant users; transmitting the set of liveaudience feeds to a plurality of client devices associated with aplurality of audience members other than the set of participant users;while transmitting the set of live audience feeds: receiving, from theplurality of the audience members, feedback data that represents aplurality of items of feedback on one or more already-transmittedportions of the media content; classifying each item of feedback, of theplurality of items of feedback, with a particular feedback type of aplurality of feedback types; wherein each feedback type, of theplurality of feedback types, is associated with one or more changes thataffect contents of one or more live audience feeds in the set of liveaudience feeds; based on the plurality of items of feedback beingclassified with the particular feedback type, determining that theplurality of items of feedback satisfies stored triggering criteria fortriggering an audience feed change; responsive to determining that theplurality of items of feedback satisfies the stored triggering criteria,causing at least one change, of the one or more changes that correspondto the particular feedback type, to be made to one or more live audiencefeeds in the set of live audience feeds.
 12. The system of claim 11wherein: each live audience feed in the one or more live audience feedsincludes an audio track; the at least one change that corresponds to theparticular feedback type comprises an audio-based change; and causingthe at least one change to be made to the one or more live audiencefeeds comprises making the audio-based change to the audio track of eachlive audience feed of the one or more live audience feeds.
 13. Thesystem of claim 12 wherein causing the at least one change thatcorresponds to the particular feedback type to be made to the one ormore live audience feeds comprises causing audio content to be insertedinto the audio track of each live audience feed of the one or more liveaudience feeds.
 14. The system of claim 12 wherein causing the at leastone change that corresponds to the particular feedback type to be madeto the one or more live audience feeds comprises modifying one or moreportions of the audio track of each live audience feed of the one ormore live audience feeds.
 15. The system of claim 12 wherein: the audiotrack, of each live audience feed of the one or more live audiencefeeds, includes audio content captured from the media content after saiddetermining that the plurality of items of feedback satisfies the storedtriggering criteria; and making the audio-based change to the audiotrack of each live audience feed of the one or more live audience feedscomprises causing a change to the audio content captured from the mediacontent after said determining that the plurality of items of feedbacksatisfies the stored triggering criteria.
 16. The system of claim 11wherein: each live audience feed in the one or more live audience feedsincludes a video track; the at least one change that corresponds to theparticular feedback type comprises a video-based change; and causing theat least one change to be made to the one or more live audience feedscomprises making the video-based change to the video track of each liveaudience feed of the one or more live audience feeds.
 17. The system ofclaim 16 wherein causing the at least one change that corresponds to theparticular feedback type to be made to the one or more live audiencefeeds comprises causing video content to be inserted into the videotrack of each live audience feed of the one or more live audience feeds.18. The system of claim 16 wherein causing the at least one change thatcorresponds to the particular feedback type to be made to the one ormore live audience feeds comprises modifying one or more portions of thevideo track of each live audience feed of the one or more live audiencefeeds.
 19. The system of claim 16 wherein: the video track, of each liveaudience feed of the one or more live audience feeds, includes visualcontent captured from the media content after said determining that theplurality of items of feedback satisfies the stored triggering criteria;and, wherein making the video-based change to the video track of eachlive audience feed the one or more live audience feeds comprises causinga change to the visual content captured from the media content aftersaid determining that the plurality of items of feedback satisfies thestored triggering criteria.
 20. The system of claim 11 wherein: themedia content comprises a video game; the users of the set ofparticipant users are participants in the video game; and causing the atleast one change that corresponds to the particular feedback type to bemade to the one or more live audience feeds comprises causing a changethat affects gameplay of the video game.